The Palms Cliff House has the honor of being named the Best Bed & Breakfast in East Hawaii by readers of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald Newspaper for 2013. The Inn also won in 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2005. John and Michele Gamble share the honor with their hard working staff, some of whom are shown below..

“We are able to be so successful because we have such wonderful and dedicated staff that share our dream for this very special place” said owner Michele Gamble.

Celebrating fourteen years in operation the Gambles feel this is the perfect pat on the back for a job well done by their neighbors and peers. “We all work so hard to provide a quality experience while still providing value for the guest” commented John Gamble, “The economy is really tight for everyone, and yet, we are still providing value for every dollar a guest spends with us.”

“We are so thankful to the people of the Big Island for giving us this honor again this year. There are so many Bed and Breakfasts out there who are working hard and providing a quality experience, so we understand what a tremendous honor it is to be given this award by the people who live here” Michele said in conclusion.

Ma‘i Ho‘oka‘awale ‘Ohana & The Journey Into Exile:Hansen’s Disease in Hawai‘i “I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story” ‘Imiloa Lecture Series

The seldom told stories of Hawai‘i’s Hansen’s Disease sufferers who were exiled to Molokai will come alive in their own words when ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center hosts Dr. Kerri Inglis, Chair, Department of History at UH Hilo, for her talk “Ma‘i Ho‘oka‘awale ‘Ohana & the Journey into Exile: Hansen’s Disease in Hawai‘i, 1866-1969” on Thursday, May 1, at 4:00 p.m. The talk is presented as part of a continuing series being offered in conjunction with the Smithsonian traveling exhibition, “I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story.” Attendees may also tour the exhibit, which is on display until June 1, 2014 as part of a 13-city national tour.

From 1866 to 1969, approximately 8,000 persons were quarantined or exiled to the leprosy settlement at Kalaupapa. Endeavoring to recover the voices of the patients who lived through this significant moment in Hawaiian history, Inglis will present her research on the letters and articles that patients and their loved ones wrote to the Board of Health and Hawaiian language newspapers in the 19th century, and share oral histories that were collected in the 20th century. Together these records tell the story of a disease, a changing society’s reaction to that disease, and the long lasting consequences of that experience for Hawai‘i and its people.

Kerri A. Inglis serves as Chair of the Department of History and Associate Professor of Hawaiian & Pacific Islands History at UH-Hilo and is the author of Ma‘i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2013). Her professional interests include research and teaching on the history of disease and medicine, especially as they pertain to Hawai‘i and the Pacific, within a global context.

Inglis visits Kalaupapa regularly, and takes a group of UH Hilo students to the peninsula for a service-learning opportunity (for one week) every fall semester.
The Smithsonian traveling exhibition, “I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story,” celebrates Asian Pacific American history across a multitude of diverse cultures and explores how Asian Pacific Americans have shaped–and been shaped by–the course of the nation’s history.

Cost is $8 for members, $10 for general admission. Pre-purchase tickets at the ‘Imiloa front desk or by phone at 969-9703.

‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i is a world-class informal science education center located on the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo campus. ‘Imiloa is a place of life-long learning where the power of Hawai‘i’s cultural traditions, its legacy of exploration and the wonders of astronomy come together to provide inspiration and hope for generations. The Center’s interactive exhibits, 3D full dome planetarium, native landscape, and programs and events engage children, families, visitors and the local community in the wonders of science and technology found in Hawai‘i. It is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays). For more information, visit the website at www.imiloahawaii.org.

Dates

April 19, 2014 9:00am – 3:00pm
Please register by Thursday, April 17.

Description

You are invited to attend an Open House at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on April 19, 2014. Guided rainforest hikes will be offered between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to observe rare and colorful native birds and plants. Its a great family oriented opportunity to see the refuge and the cooperative reforestation work, tour the green house operation, and walk in high elevation ancient forests at Hakalau Forest NWR. Hear some of the compelling stories of our rare and beautiful mints and lobeliads rescued from the brink of extinction and now given hope by citizen volunteers working side by side with refuge staff to protect and restore this precious native forest. The day will also feature exhibits by our partner organizations.

Visitors must provide their own four-wheel-drive transportation to the Refuge, which is a two-hour drive from Hilo, Waimea or Kona. Reservations are required and may be obtained by calling the refuge office at 808-443-2300 by April 17. Free admission.

Precisely 90 years ago—on April 21, 1924—residents of Kapoho were evacuated as hundreds of earthquakes shook their village. In the weeks that followed, explosions wracked the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, creating difficult challenges for staff at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. This evening, using USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory logs, geologic field notes, National Park Service reports, newspaper accounts, photographs, and other records from 1924, long-time HVO volunteer Ben Gaddis tells the tale of Kīlauea’s most violent eruption of the twentieth century from the perspective of the people who lived through it.

This May, Lei Hulu of Hilo will delight Museum visitors once again with a special exhibit of traditional Hawaiian featherwork by the students of Kumu Doreen Henderson, a master crafter of lei hulu. Examples of featherwork on display include lei papa (flat lei often used as hatbands), kāhili, `uli`uli (feathered gourds and rattles), `ahu`ula (feathered capes), and even an elaborate crested mahiole (helmet). Practitioners of lei hulu have traditionally used feathers from endemic birds such as `apapane, `elapaio, `i`iwi, mamo, and `ō`ō, but with these either endangered, or in the case of mamo and `ō`ō, extinct, they now rely on feathers from ducks, geese, guinea hens, peacocks, pheasants, and quail. Aunty Doreen’s own red-and-yellow lei kamoe (headband) is made up of “regular” goose feathers.

Aunty Doreen learned the art from Kumu Mary Kahihilani Duarte-Kovich, herself a student of the late Aunty Mary Lou Kekuewa, one of Hawaii’s most renowned lei hulu practitioners and a second cousin of Aunty Doreen. An annual Museum attraction since 2006, this year’s special exhibit will be on display from May 1 through May 16, 2014.

LYMAN MUSEUM

Alika Tejada, pūkaua (war leader) for the High Chief at Pu`ukoholā Heiau near Kohala, presents a riveting program on the manufacture and use of nā mea kaua, the traditional Hawaiian weapons of war. What materials were used to fashion the pāhoa (dagger), niho manō pāhoa (shark-tooth dagger), newa (war club), ka`ane (strangling cord), ihe (spear), ko`o (staff), and niho manō hoe (shark-tooth war paddle), and how were they made and used? What are some of the other little-known, precontact weapons early Hawaiian warriors created and employed so effectively? Come learn from a true craftsman and practitioner of his culture!

(original closing date has been extended from January 11,2014 to June 28, 2014)

John Howard Pierce, a former Hawaii Tribune-Herald reporter and Lyman Museum curator, was an avid photographer who meticulously documented his beloved home of Hawai’i Island in the mid-twentieth century, a pivotal period defined and galvanized by the admission of Hawai’i into the United States in 1959.

The photographs in this exhibit–a small but representative sampling of the John Howard Pierce Collection–provide a view to this recent past, revealing a community ambitiously growing, changing, and constructing a new future; remembering and reclaiming its traditions; and savoring the simple pleasures of everyday life.

We invite you to view Hawai’i Island of half a century ago through the lens of John Howard Pierce, whose photographs help the Museum tell the story of Hawai’i, its islands, and its people.